Dust to Dust
by EldritchSandwich
Summary: Change of Heart Series 10. The first season finale. Xana emerges into the Real World, a pitched battle comes to Earth, and, in the end, someone will die…


Jeremie's eyes swept around the crowded control room, falling on each face, trying to guage each reaction. Taking the deepest breath of his life, he began to speak.

"We're all here for a very specific reason. Three days ago, a sentient supercomputer called Xana gave this planet an ultimatum—we could join him, or die. You're all here because you know there's a third option, and you're willing to fight for it." Pausing, his glanced around the room again. He saw so many faces he had never expected to see here—the Principal, Herb, Nicolas, Milly, Tamiyah, Mike, Ana, and even Brandy. Even the familiar faces looked blank, stoic. Afraid, but more afraid to show it. Jeremie swallowed. Suddenly his throat felt very dry.

"Over the last two days, you've all learned the basics. You've learned what we're up against. You've learned how very, very necessary it is that we keep fighting. You're not an army. We don't have the training, or the time, or the equipment to take on whatever it is that's coming. I won't lie to you—I never have—the odds are stacked against us. But we're fighting for our existence. We're fighting for them. You're here because you're willing to accept what others can't...that the world is in danger, from a threat most normal people can't even imagine. But you can. You can see what's really going on. What's at stake. That's why we're going to win."

Jeremie's eyes shot downward. He hesitated. He sighed. It had to be said. "Twenty minutes ago Aelita picked up a signal. Xana activated an IO Tower. More to the point...he destroyed it." Jeremie waited for the confused murmurs to die down. "We don't know how, but...if he put that much stress on a Tower, he had to be channeling an immense amount of energy. We don't know what he did, yet, but...it's coming."

Jeremie looked out over the sea of faces. Ulrich and Yumi stood near the front, hands clasped together, afraid to let go. Odd cradled Ana's head under his. Sissi stood close...but not too close. The adults—Jim, the Principal, Yumi's father, and Mrs. Hertz—stood apart from the students, shooting each other nervous glances, as if this were a dream from which each would awake momentarily. _We should all be so lucky_, Jeremie thought. He glanced back, worry painted across Aelita's face on the monitor. He turned to the assembled party.

"I wish I could say this will have a happy ending, but...I don't know what's going to happen. Xana has just expended more energy than ever before. Whatever's coming, it's going to be big. It's going to change the world. You're the last line of defense the world has. He's coming.

"We're ready."

Jeremie looked the bus up and down, the new black paint seeming to absorb the morning sunlight. The snow plow attatched to the front bumper caught his attention. Jim noticed his curious expression. "Battering ram," he stated simply.

"Oh." Jeremie finished his inspection, glancing up at Jim. "You know, this really wasn't necessary."

Jim shrugged. "Keeps me busy. I kinda want to feel useful, you know?"

Jeremie smiled weakly. "Don't worry. I doubt very much that Xana plans to keep the fight confined to Lyoko. You might be getting more useful than you can handle."

Jim chuckled, then glanced away, as if stung by some sudden thought. "Jeremie...when Odd and Ulrich showed me around that lab of yours for the first time, they said something about...how they never expected to do this a second time."

Jeremie grinned. "Ah, that's right. Well, believe it or not, Jim, you helped us out like this once before."

Jim straightened. "Really?" Jeremie nodded. "Time travel thing, right?" Jeremie nodded, smiling. "So, what happened?"

Jeremie slouched against the bus, letting the sun soak into his skin. "Remember earlier in the year, when the Principal busted you for obsessing about...well, this...and we covered for you? Well, we had a very good reason..."

"Hey. How are you doing?"

"Hm?" Odd looked up into Ulrich's silhouette. "Oh, fine."

Yumi left his side, circling around to sit down next to Odd. "Are you nervous about this...whatever it is?"

Odd let his head fall back against the tree trunk. "I hadn't even thought about that yet."

Ulrich sat on the grass opposite the two of them. "Yeah, well, you hve a lot to occupy your mind."

Odd grinned. "Any suggestions?"

"Yeah. Make up your mind. Or someone's going to get hurt." Yumi wrapped her arm around Odd's shoulder playfully. "Come on. We have weapons detail."

"Sissi, wait up!" Sissi turned to see Brandy, out of breath, coming to a stop. "Listen, I just wanted to...apologize. The whole thing with Odd, it was just...I'm just like that, you know?"

Sissi sighed, nodding. "Come on, let's get to Jeremie for our assignments."

Brandy fell into step beside the shorter girl. "Why's he get to be in charge, anyway?"

Sissi smiled. "I don't know. That's just the way it works."

Jeremie groaned, sliding back against the brick and powering up his laptop."Aelita? Do you read me?"

The pink face blinked onto the screen. "I'm here, Jeremie."

"Has there been any activity since the energy spike?" Aelita shook her head. "Nothing?"

"I'd be surprised if Xana had any energy left after that blast. I haven't seen any monsters, or felt any pulsations—it's as if the blast drained Xana's power supplies completely."

Jeremie nodded. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine. I don't operate on the Core's power source. But Jeremie...you didn't _feel_ it. It was like the Tower was pulling energy out of the ground around it. Whatever Xana's planning this time, it's big...I don't know if you're going to be able to succeed."

Jeremie chuckled, almost to himself. "Yeah, well, don't tell any of them that."

"Jeremie!" Lifting his head, he saw Sissi and Brandy approaching. He smiled weakly.

"Hey."

"We're here for our assignment, sir." Brandy saluted comically. Jeremie smiled inwardly. He hadn't known Brandy even had a sense of humor.

"You two are on media duty."

Sissi looked sideways at the other girl. "What's that mean, exactly?"

"You're supposed to watch TV."

"Cool!"

"The news."

"Oh."

Jeremie chuckled. "Just take one for the team, huh, Sis? I need you two to check for anything weird happening in the area."

The shorter girl nodded. "You got it."

As they walked back toward the street, Brandy turned her head toward Sissi's. "Watching TV, huh? I ought to try being a superhero more often."

Ulrich cleared his throat. The Principal, lifted unwillingly from his musings, turned to face him. "What is it, Ulrich?"

"Here's the key to the tool shed back."

He nodded. "Anything worth using?"

Yumi shrugged. "Some hatchets, wrenches, a pruning saw. Odd's loading them into the bus now. I'm hoping we'll get more when people start on their basements."

He sighed, turning back to the school's broad image against the growing sunlight. Ulrich stepped up, carefully. "Problem, sir?"

"Just...they have no idea, do they? As far as they know, the school's closed for fumigation. They don't even want to know the truth."

"But you do. That's why Sissi suggested that we bring you in."

The Principal's head swiveled back toward the building. "I just...I don't know what to think. How...how long?"

Yumi smiled. "A while. Long enough for people like you to start getting genuinely suspicious."

Ulrich took a step back. "We're going to go get started recruiting people for weapon hunting."

The Principal nodded. Watching the light seep into the cracks between the bricks, he smiled. "I always knew there was something strange about those four..."

"Where are you going with all that?" Yumi's mother bent her head out of kitchen, watching as her daughter and husband staggered under their loads.

Mr. Ishiyama cleared his throat. "Just a project I'm helping Yumi with." Yumi smiled, nodding from behind the pile of tools.

Her mother folded her arms across her apron. "What kind of project?"

Mr. Ishiyama glanced sidelong at his daughter. "We're...building something."

"Building what? Why are you suddenly being so secretive?"

Yumi tapped her foot into her father's heel. "Sorry, Mom, but we really have to be going."

Mr. Ishiyama turned back as he made his way to the front door. "We'll talk tonight, all right honey?"

His wife sought to raise a word of protest, but the two were already out the door. As she watched them pile the odds and ends into the back seat of the car, she shook her head.

"Why can't we just tell her?"

Yumi's father chuckled. "Trust me, I know your mother. If we told her, she'd make an appointment for us to have a CAT scan. If we confronted her with proof, she'd make one for herself."

Yumi glanced out the side window as they sped toward the school. "I just don't like lying to her."

Mr. Ishiyama smiled. "How do you think I feel? I have about eight hours to think up a good excuse as to why we carried off half the basement!"

Yumi smiled weakly. "Look on the bright side—Xana'll probably attack before then."

He glanced down at her. "Thanks a lot. I feel much better now."

Jeremie looked up, the small breathy noise just barely catching his attention. He imagined she had been trying to clear her throat. He smiled inwardly at her conundrum—how to catch his attention without intruding. "What is it, Ana?"

"Well, I...I'm not interrupting, am I?"

Jeremie grinned, shaking his head slightly. "Everything going all right with uniform detail?"

Ana nodded. "Camouflage if you have it, black if you don't. Milly and Tamiya are mostly taking care of organization now."

Jeremie sighed. "So that's not why you're here?"

Ana approached skittishly, as if afraid Jeremie might lash out at any moment. "Have you seen Odd?"

Jeremie sat up, trying to look non-threatening. He knew all too well what it was like to feel powerless and afraid. "I think he's over by the bus..." Ana nodded rapidly and turned on her heel. "Wait, Ana...is something wrong?"

She paused turning half-way back toward the courtyard bench. "I...I'm not really the sort of person who's supposed to do this sort of thing, you know? I'm not a hero."

"None of us are. You think I am? Or Ulrich? Or Odd?"

"You all seem so sure of yourselves..."

Jeremie chuckled. "That's experience. There's an evil supercomputer trying to take over the world. It's not the kind of lifestyle you get to pick. We just do what we can. That's all anyone's asking you to do."

"But what if what I can do isn't enough?"

Jeremie smiled warmly. "Doing something's always enough."

Ulrich hefted one of the bulky metal shields, feeling the weight against his arm. "Nice."

Jim shrugged. "They're mostly just scrap and aluminum foil. Still, every little bit helps."

Ulrich set the warped plate back near the pile. "How many did you make?"

"About a dozen. You want me to start loading them in the bus?"

Ulrich passed the first uneven construct to him and smiled. "Every little bit helps."

"Are you ready, sir? The last of the weapons donations are arriving now, we should be able to roll out as soon as the media team tells us what we're up against."

The Principal lifted himself from his the trunk of his car, making sure the equipment he was designated to carry was secure. "Good...Jeremie, do you really think that, whatever it is Xana's planning, it could possibly require all of this?"

Jeremie shook his head. "I don't know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Still, I'd rather end up with more than we need."

He nodded. "I suppose." He sighed. "To think, my daughter becoming involved in something like this. I always thought she was so...well, rather...shallow."

Jeremie smiled. "She was. Of course, I guess that sort of thing fades when the fate of the world is in your hands."

"That's ridiculous."

She stepped back, afraid Odd would take offense. "I don't mean anything by it, it's just...you two suddenly have this history I didn't know anything about."

"Come on, Ana, do we have to talk about this?"

"At first I thought it was all Brandy, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that she..."

Odd turned away from the last stack of "borrowed" first aid kits. "She what?"

Ana bent her head back, taking a difficult breath. "She's a hero. Like you. I'm not." Odd rolled his eyes. "You two are part of this whole other world that I can't ever really understand, that, according to Jeremie, I won't even remember after this is over."

"Ana-"

"I don't want to sound needy, but...there's suddenly this huge chunk of your life that I don't fit in to. That scares me."

Odd almost spoke. Almost. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Ana's shoulders, letting her breathing wash over his skin. It figured, he thought—before that point, he'd been almost finished making up his mind.

"What is it?"

The lieutenant pushed back his chair, letting his commander get closer to the screen. "I don't know sir, but they've started appearing on monitors all over the base."

He shook his head, the strange red target staring back at him from the computer. "Get someone on it."

"Yes, sir."

Beneath the airfield, unknown to any in the base above, the Machine began to stir. Waking from their slumber after so many years, the gears began to thrum softly.

And one by one, a thousand red eyes began to open.

Ulrich pressed his fingers to his temple. "Again."

Milly sighed, nocking another arrow in the crude weapon, pulling back the string, and coming up a full eight inches below the bullseye.

Ulrich shook his head, looking over the targets. "all right, Mike, Tamiya, Herb, Tristan, you're all doing good. Take five. Milly, Sandra, Emilio, stay where you are, I'll...think of something."

Yumi's hand on his shoulder caused Ulrich to pivot around warily. He smiled. "Good to see you."

"How are the troops?"

Ulrich sighed heavily. "Don't even start...come with me."

Ulrich thrust Yumi between the assembled archers and their hastily constructed targets. "Everyone watch Yumi, all right?" Ulrich gestured to Yumi. She shrugged, picking up a bow and stepping back to the chalk line in the grass. She nocked one of the nail-headed projectiles, drawing a bead on the target and, inside a second, hitting the inner ring of the bullseye. Ulrich nodded. "all right, did everyone see that? She sighted the target along the edge of the bow—not down the middle. Yumi, take firing position again." She rolled her eyes, picking up another arrow and standing with the string half-taut, aiming toward the bullseye. "Now, look at how her hips are angled—she's not trying to lean into the shot." Ulrich's hand brushed Yumi's side. She blushed slightly, keeping her grip on the bow. Ulrich cleared his throat. "Right, uh...she also isn't sticking her arm _straight_ out..." Ulrich wrapped his hand around Yumi's, readjusting her slightly to make his point. Her eyes caught his, as if they were laughing. Ulrich dropped his hands. "Right, uh...ghm...everyone just, uh, sight down the edge, that's where the arrow is, and try not to push your body into the shot, or it will arc downward too quickly."

Milly glanced back at Tamiya, almost giggling.

Yumi angled her eyes to Ulrich's, flashing them toward the cool seclusion of the forest. Ulrich looked down. "all right, everyone start again. We have to make some progress before we get the call." Yumi's eyes pierced into Ulrich, curious. Ulrich shrugged appologetically. Yumi sighed, taking an armful of the unused bows and quivers back toward the vehicles as Ulrich proceeded to call out instructions.

Aeilta's face hummed on the laptop screen. "I hate that you have to make such a sacrifice for me, Jeremie. All of you."

Jeremie blushed. "Aelita, we...you know we'd make any sacrifice for you."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Jeremie lifted off his glasses. "What do you mean?"

Aelita's image looked away from Jeremie. "Jeremie, I want you to consider what I'm about to say very seriously..."

"Of course, Aelita."

"...because I really mean it."

"Go ahead."

Aelita paused, choking on the words as she forced them past her throat. "Shut it down."

Jeremie straightened against the brick wall. "What?"

Aelita shook her head. "It's not worth it, Jeremie. All of this could be avoided if you'd just-"

"Aelita, I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"If anything happened to one of you, I don't think I could live knowing that I'd been responsible."

Jeremie grimaced, uncertain how to respond. "Aelita...we're not just going to abandon you. _I'm_ not. I can't. You know that."

"Just consider it, all right? As a last resort?"

Jeremie looked up at the breathless shadow across him. Sissi was panting as she grabbed him, pulling him into the teacher's lounge. "Jeremie, you have to see this."

Brandy turned the volume up to maximum on the newscast as the two entered.

"...for those of you just now joining our program, strange and unexplainable power fluctuations at a military base twenty kilometers north of the city have rendered it nearly inoperative. Its computer network has been isolated from the rest of the military system to avoid the spread of what military representatives are describing as a virulent and completely unprecedented computer virus..."

Brandy shut off the set. Jeremie lifted himself from the plush couch where Sissi had dropped him. "That's it." Jeremie glanced down at the closed laptop. He took a very, very deep breath. "Get everyone together. We move out in ten minutes."

Yumi wasn't talking. In the front seat, her father idly chatted with Brandy, as if they were going to a picnic instead of to war. Ulrich looked across at the dark-haired girl, trying to divine something from her features. After a few too many seconds, Yumi swept her head around. "What?"

Ulrich faded back a little, caught off guard by her tone. "What do you mean 'what?' What's wrong? You've been sullen since we got in the car." He tried to keep his voice beneath the notice of those in the front seat.

Yumi sighed. "If you-"

"And don't say 'if you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you.' I think I deserve better than that."

"Don't _I_?" Yumi checked her voice, suddenly higher than she intended.

"_What?_"

"You can't just treat me like an object, Ulrich. I have needs too, you know—desires."

Ulrich leaned back against the door. "If this is about that thing at the archery range..."

"What else could it be?"

"Yumi, I was just trying to-"

Mr. Ishiyama rolled his eyes and grunted in disgust. "Listen to you two! You sound like an old married couple. From what I remember, young love is supposed to full of excitement and whimsy, right?" He turned to Brandy. "Are they always like this?"

Brandy shrugged. "I really wouldn't know. This sort of thing is just one of the many reasons I don't normally associate with them." She grinned.

Yumi pushed her head forward. "You were **eavesdropping** on us?"

Brandy looked back. "No, we were trying to ignore the loud whispers coming from two feet behind our heads. But some of it got through, despite our best efforts."

Mr. Ishiyama looked back at his daughter and her boyfriend. "Is she always like this?"

Yumi smiled weakly.

"You know what your problem is?" Brandy shot a glare at Yumi's father before continuing. "You two don't know how to talk to each other."

Yumi scoffed. "Brandy, stay out of this."

"No. I'm tired of watching you two act all awkward just because you don't know how to express yourselves. It's disgusting."

Ulrich bent his head back against the head cushion and groaned.

"Yumi, it's not that Ulrich doesn't value your needs. He thinks if you two get too close, and something bad happens, the pain would just be too bad for the other one. By keeping his distance, he's just trying to protect you."

Ulrich tilted his head back up. "_Thank_ you."

Brandy swiveled her head. "And Ulrich—I'm only going to say this once—**Yumi doesn't need you to protect her.** If she wanted to be protected, she'd be with someone with at least a tiny degree of stability. You two are perfect for each other. You're just too _stubborn_ to admit it."

By the time Brandy finished, six eyes were on her, wide. She looked nervously around the car. "What? It's _textbook_."

"Thanks for staying behind to help, Mrs. Hertz." Jeremie waited for Odd and Sissi to step into the elevator, then pressed the button to descend.

Mrs. Hertz smiled. "It's my pleasure. As hard as it might be to imagine, I don't really consider myself an asset in combat."

Jeremie grinned, stepping into the control room. "I know the feeling."

Odd pressed the button to descend to the scanner room. As the lift slid downward, Odd and Sissi looked staright ahead, each aware of their own breathing in the confined space. "So," Sissi's head snapped up toward Odd as he broke the silence, "big fight coming up."

Sissi bit her bottom lip momentarily. "Yeah."

"Can't wait."

Sissi smiled weakly. "Me neither."

Odd chuckled. "Anticipation's the best part, I guess."

Sissi's eyes slid toward Odd in a moment. He cleared his throat hurriedly.

"Of a battle, I mean."

She nodded. "Of course."

"Because...that's what we're talking about."

"Right."

"Right?"

Sissi stepped toward the doors as they slid open, thankful for the empty space in the scanner room. "Right."

Jeremie activated the monitors, bright Tower indicators blinking onto the holo-map. "Aelita, are you there?"

The pink-wreathed face melted onto the screen. She smiled half-heartedly. "Of course, Jeremie."

He sighed. "I'm sending Odd and Sissi in to help you with some reconnaisance."

Aelita nodded. "The Tower Xana destroyed has already reformed itself. If we find anything to undo, we should be able to return to the past." Jeremie nodded. "Any word from the others yet?"

Jeremie looked to one of the side monitors. "They're still en route." His eyes flicked back toward the main screen. "They're going to be fine, Aelita. Everyone."

Mike put his hand on Jim's shoulder. "Slow down, Jim. I think this is it." Jim nodded, slowing the bus to a stop in front of the chain link gate. A young, clean-shaven soldier walked out of the security checkpoint, rifle slung over his shoulder. He looked over the bus, and the two heavily-loaded sedans following it.

"What exactly are you doing here? This area's off-limits, especially since the...problems started."

Jim leaned out the high window of the converted school bus. "Yeah, we heard. That's why we're here."

The soldier tilted his head, looking in at the black—and camoflauge-clad students inside. His eyes widened. "And who exactly are you?"

Jim flashed the guard a broad smile. "We're the experts."

The man didn't have an opportunity to argue before the first massive chunk of the airfield flew into the command building.

If Ulrich recognized the uniform, then the man running up to the gate was a major. The guard snapped around, saluting, as he cast a nervous glance back toward the main structure, a large chunk of the airfield still sticking through the wall. "Sir? What's going on?"

"No idea, but as of this moment, we are officially sealed off. Who are all these people?"

Ulrich had exited the car and was moving up toward the fence. "Sir, we're here to help."

"_Help_? Son, I think the army can take care of its own problems without you."

Ulrich shook his head. "Not this one. Trust me—you have no idea what you're up against."

The major threw his head back. "And you do?"

Before Ulrich could speak, the low thrum of wings and the sharp sound of laser fire rose up from the shattered airfield. The walkie-talkie on the major's shoulder cackled to life. "Sir, we're taking fire...some kind of...I don't know what they are..."

The first of the small monsters cleared the breach, diving toward the idling vehicles. "Hornets!" Ulrich shouted toward the open bus windows. "Long range, everyone!"

The two soldiers watched dumbly as nailguns and crudely built bows were extended out the windows. Ulrich dove through the opened bus door, screaming the command to fire as lasers began to plink against the side of the bus. The first barrage of Hornets went down, and Ulrich brushed himself off, stepping back out onto the pavement. "Your men can either help or stay out of our way. You're playing on our turf, now."

The major cast a nervous glance toward the hole in the tarmac, strange sounds still echoing within. "Open the gate, sergeant."

The guard looked sidelong at his commander. "Sir, I-"

"Do you have any idea what's going on here, sergeant?"

"Well, I...no, sir."

"Neither do I." The officer gestured toward Ulrich. "He does. Let them through."

The guard edged toward the control booth. Ulrich stepped back on the bus as a portion of the fence slid open. Silently, Jim edged the bus forward into the compound. As it slowed, Ulrich jumped out, already shouting orders to unpack. "Everyone get weapons—one long range, one hand to hand. Jim, Mike, Nicolas, Germaine, Yumi and I get the shields—we'll be first group. Tamiya, you take the archers—you'll be second group. Everyone else is third group—try to stay under some cover until we engage in melee. Let's go, people!"

The 'troops' fell into line, weapons distributed quickly. Yumi sidled up to Ulrich, strapping the makeshift shield to her arm. "You seem to be enjoying this."

He grinned, slinging a pruning saw across his back and picking up a nailgun. "You ain't seen nothing yet." He turned to the assembling, milling bodies, clad in black and camoflauge. "First group, let's go check out that hole. Second group, guard the bus. Third group, try to get into that command center—whatever Xana's doing, there might be a way to shut it down from there."

Children and adults slipped into place, Ulrich stalking forward with his group toward the ever-increasing breach in the paved airfield. Chunks of asphalt flew upward, and all-too-familiar clicking sounds resonated under the surface. Ulrich peered over the edge, pulling back quickly and slipping his cell phone from his pocket. Yumi looked in after him, and her breath caught in her throat.

Jeremie activated the call interface on the control computer. "Ulrich, what is it? Did everyone get there all right?"

"Everyone's fine. Listen, Jeremie, I want you to pull Sissi and Odd out and get up here. We need all the help we can get. Besides, I don't think they'll be encountering any monsters on Lyoko."

Jeremie turned to the side display. Indeed, there were no monsters between the group and the activated Tower. "What are you talking about, Ulrich?"

Ulrich stared over the lip again, into the sea of red eyes in the depths of gears and conveyor belts, shapes milling about in the dim light.

"They're all here."

Tamiya slipped the mobile phone out of her pocket. "Ulrich?"

"Have you heard anything from third group?"

"Yumi's father was supposed to check in. I thought maybe he called you."

Ulrich looked nervously toward Yumi, still preoccupied at the edge of the crevice. "No, he hasn't, and we just found a giant underground cavern swarming with monsters. Take a few archers to the command center, all right? See what's keeping them."

"Right." Tamiya signaled Milly and Herb away from the rest of the group.

"Oh, and...be careful."

"You too." Tamiya ended the call, relating Ulrich's orders to her squad. Milly sidled up alongside her as they moved. "You're really liking this leadership thing, huh?"

Tamiya pushed her quuiver up over her shoulder. "You're kidding, right? I'm scared stiff."

"You don't look it."

Tamiya smiled weakly, drawing her weapon, and motioning for the others to do the same, as they approached the crumbling retaining wall of the command building. "Never let them see you sweat."

"Where are we?" Mr. Ishiyama's flashlight darted around the seemingly endless tunnel.

Sandra shrugged. "This looks a lot like the drainage tunnels around my house."

"Somehow I doubt this is just a drainage ditch."

"How'd we end up here?"

"I don't know." Yumi's father cast a nervous glance backward. "I guess we got a little ahead of everyone, and took a wrong turn."

Sandra looked around nervously, as if the dripping in the walls might come to life. "Sh...shouldn't you call Ulrich, and tell him where we are?"

He shook his head. "I've been trying, but I guess we're too far underground. I'm not getting a signal. If we could-"

"Wait." Sandra cast her flashlight around spastically. "Can you hear that?"

Mr. Ishiyama paused. "Hear what?"

"I don't know—it's like...a buzzing."

He squinted, then sighed. "We just have to keep going. This thing's bound to go back to the surface sooner-"

The sharp clang of metal made Sandra jump. Yumi's father leaned up, groaning.

"Are you all right?"

He grunted. "I'm fine. What did I run in to?"

Sandra turned her light to the mouth of the tunnel. The bright red symbol across the sudden airlock glittered in the light. "Maybe we should go back and try to find the others now."

Mr. Ishiyama worked his way to his feet, then jumped as the doors began to slide open. "Maybe we should run."

Ulrich shook his head. Yumi touched his shoulder. "What is it?"

"I just got a call from group three. They lost your dad and Sandra. They were scouting ahead, then all of a sudden they were just...gone."

"What...well, we have to go look for them!"

Ulrich shook his head uneasily. "We have to keep our eyes on this...army. Get everyone here."

Yumi cast a longing glance at the command building. "It should be fine. They haven't even notic-" The first pink bolt swept into Yumi's leg, leaving a penny-sized hole as countless lasers leapt out of the cavern. Ulrich caught Yumi as she fell, lifting her into his arms and stepping awkwardly back toward the bus. "Fall back! Fall back!"

Ana jumped nervously as the airfield shattered into a flash of red light. She drew her bow and took a step back toward the bus. Suddenly, Nicolas and Jim cleared the small hill between the airfield and the command center, lasers slipping past their heads. Ana squinted, trying to read Jim's lips. _Incoming._

The others had seen it too. As one, the archers drew back their first shots, waiting an eternity as the rest of the first group cleared the vista. As Ulrich dove toward the bus, Yumi in his arms, Ana caught her first glimpse of their pursuers. Blocks—she thought—that's what Jeremie had called them. The sight of the spindly-legged robots sent a quiet shiver down her spine. Crouching down to make herself a smaller target (she'd read that somewhere, she was sure) Ana let loose her first shot as Ulrich screamed the command to fire. The arrow clattered uselessly against the monster's metal plating, but several other projectiles from the group struck home—half the approaching robots exploded into scrap on the spot. Mike layed his hand on Ana's shoulder. "We have to fall back to the command center!"

She nodded, and the archers started to move with the first group. Watching the incoming line, Brandy signaled the third group to lay down cover fire. As Ulrich pressed past the sandbags the remaining military personnel had put down, he stumbled, dropping Yumi as gently as possible near a computer console. Brandy rushed over as the fire of nailguns and air rifles popped behind her. "What happened?"

Ulrich motioned for one of the first aid kits to be brought over. "They noticed us."

Yumi squinted under the pain. "Did everyone else make it okay?"

Ulrich nodded. "Those shields Jim made really did the trick."

Yumi chuckled, a disturbing sound mingled with pain. "Yeah, too bad I had mine on the wrong side."

Brandy tore off a bandage strip and handed it to Ulrich. "Honestly...how silly of you." Yumi grimaced as Ulrich tied a compress over her leg.

"all right, we have to move you away from the breach." Ulrich shifted his arm under Yumi's. "That is, if you don't mind me trying to protect you."

Yumi smiled. "I think I can make an exception."

"Yumi...look, I just want to say-"

"Dad." Ulrich looked up. Mr. Ishiyama stumbled against the wall of an approaching corridor. Sandra was a few feet behind him.

Brandy and Tamiya ran up, taking the weary scouts by the arms while casting nervous glances down the shadowed hall. Ulrich patted Yumi on the shoulder, then went to join the others. "Where were you two? We've got more monsters up here than we know what to do with." Yumi's father cast a smile toward Sandra. "What?"

"We know where they're coming from."

Mrs. Hertz stopped the car just outside the chain link gate. Odd stretched to look over the seat. "Why are we stopping?"

Sissi moved her head out as well, then retracted it suddenly when her cheek brushed close with Odd's. Besides, she'd seen what she needed to see. The blanket of monsters across the compound milled toward the command center, lasers chewing through hastily constructed blockades. "We have to get in there and help."

Jeremie nodded and pulled out his cell phone. "Ulrich? Are you all okay?"

"Yumi's hurt. But she'll make it."

"Is there another way into that command building?"

"Forget the command building. Sandra and Yumi's father found a passage that leads down into a bunch of machinery below the airfield. We think it's where Xana's army is coming from."

Jeremie peeked out the door—the flow of monsters from the fissure had almost stopped. "Great. How are we supposed to get down there?"

Sissi smiled warily. "Anyone feel like a climb?"

Deep in the bowels of the Machine, the final door clicked open. The Avatar took its first uneasy steps into the dank echoes of the pit below the airfield. Xana looked up at the carnage of laser fire hundreds of feet above and smiled.

_Advancement at any cost._

Jeremie's foot reached around a small ledge, probing for the next foothold. "Did I mention how this wasn't a good idea?"

Odd grunted, sliding along the i-beam he was stradling. "Oh, only about six or seven times since we started climbing."

"Well this isn't a good idea."

Sissi's fingers curled around the i-beam Odd was strafing. "What's the matter, Jeremie," she leapt across the narrow crevace between the beam and the wall, "don't you ever go rock climbing?"

He snorted. His face turned to his two friends, sidling along the rusting iron brace. "That thing doesn't look stable."

Sissi sighed. "Stop worrying, Jeremie. This place was designed to support all that machinery down there, I think it can take a few extra-"

The wet crunch of the snapping iron was still ringing in Jeremie's ears when he heard Odd and Sissi break through the flimsy sheet-roof far below. "Sissi? Odd!" Jeremie clung to the wet stone and steel of the cavern wall, afraid to move another inch.

"The last barricade's in place. It should hold them for an hour or so." Jim wiped the dust and grime from his hands to his jacket.

Mr. Ishiyama turned from his daughter's side. "Is that going to be long enough?"

Ulrich's eyes slipped down the black corridor that, according to Yumi's father, held the airlock, and the key to the machinery. "If we can't find a way out of this in an hour, I doubt the barricade's going to be our biggest problem." Yumi's father nodded. "We should move out." He turned to the troops, milling about in the command room, unsure of what to do next. "Anyone who's tired of waiting, follow me. We're going down into that machine—there has to be some way to stop Xana from making an even bigger army. The rest of you cover us. Hold this compound as long as you can."

No one moved. Eyes looked around nervously, or at the ground. Yumi searched the crowd, but no eyes met hers. "What? No volunteers?" Yumi forced herself to stand, resting on Brandy's shoulder. "I can't believe this. Do you even realize what's at stake here? You don't want to get hurt, fine. You think I wanted this to happen?" She cast a wave of her hand at the brown-stained gauze on her thigh. "None of us asked for this. But you made a commitment." Her eyes cut across the room. More gazes were darting around the crowd, or falling on her. "If you don't fight, then who? This is bigger than all of us. Much bigger. Jeremie said you could win. Said this was necessary. Prove it."

Tamiya stepped forward, eyes flitting back to the whispering crowd. "Group two archers at your service, sir." Slowly, unsurely, the archers nudged forth out of the milling bodies.

Jim pushed out of the crowd, Nicolas and Mike at his heels. "Group one shield-bearers at your service, sir."

A few more people stepped forward, but more than half hung back. Brandy lifted Yumi's arm from her shoulder and passed it to Ulrich. "Prove it."

The group didn't move. With a soft grunt, Ana pushed herself out of the horde, then whipped around to face them. "I don't want to die. This whole thing is so much bigger than I could ever have imagined, I feel like I'm suffocating. But I get it. This is our responsibility. I'm going."

More people trickled to the forefront, until well over half of the troops stood with Ulrich. "The rest of you hold down the fort. We go now."

One of those who was staying took Yumi's arm from Ulrich. He cupped her hand in his and, wordlessly, took the first steps toward the Machine.

Odd let out a long moan—his head was pounding. "Sissi?"

He heard a groan from a shadowed pile of rubble. He rushed over—Sissi's head was bleeding. He felt his temple—so was his. He knelt down. "Are you okay?"

"What...what happened?"

Odd propped Sissi's head up in his arms. "I think the beam gave out." He glanced up at the shaft of light, at the jagged hole their bodies had cut in the sheet metal. "Can you move?"

Sissi tried to stand, but a sharp hiss of pain sent her tumbling back down. "It's my knee—I can't bend it, I think it's broken."

Odd nodded, looking at the oddly bent joint. "All right, the others should be on their way down here, and Jeremie will probably tell them where we fell, so we just have to stay put."

Sissi shook her head. "The monsters. All that noise we made...we have to go."

Odd sighed. "all right, I'm going to carry you." Sissi hissed as Odd scooped her into his arms. "Look, I have to say something, and I know this is probably the worst possible time, but..."

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The glowing beam bit through the support column at Odd's shoulder. He shouted in surprise and pumped forward, crab blasts digging into the ground around him, his arms straining against Sissi's weight. As Odd stumbled over a fallen cloumn, another tremor shook the superstructure. The crab looked up into the sudden, jagged beam falling toward it. Odd grimaced away from the sound of impact. "Well, that was lucky."

"Odd, I can't. You have to leave me."

"What? I'm not going to leave you here."

"No, just go." Sissi was almost crying. "I'm not going to let you throw away your life."

"Chances are, we're all going to die anyway."

Sissi looked up into his eyes. "That's not what I'm talking about." Odd's face cinched up in confusion. "She needs you, Odd."

"I know." His face was now closer to hers—closer, even, than he had intended.

"I mean it."

"I know." The words were consumed in Sissi's lips. The pulsing sounds from above and the clicking that echoed through the Machine died away. There was only her.

Ulrich stepped into the sunlight of the now completely exposed Machine, dug deep within the earth. "Tamiya?"

She edged forward, to the limit of the wall of rubble that separated the army from the remaining monsters. "What is it?"

"I would like you to tell me exactly what you see."

"Whoa...it's like an assembly line. I've never seen anything that big before."

"Good."

"Why?"

"I thought I was hallucinating."

Brandy stepped up behind them. "How exactly are we supposed to stop that thing?"

Ulrich peered over the low wall, taking in the sprawling machine. "That big column in the center looks like some kind of control area. We have to make our way there."

Brandy grimaced. "Yeah. Fight our way through a couple hundred robotic monsters to get to a computer we don't know how to turn off. Easy."

"It could be worse."

"How?"

"The ones attacking the command center could be down here too."

"Ulrich!" Ulrich turned to Herb's voice. The boy dragged someone with him, leaning on his shoulder.

"Jeremie!" Ulrich helped Herb drop Jeremie to the ground. The blond winced and pressed his temple. "Jeremie, what-"

"Odd, Sissi, where are they?"

"We haven't heard from them. They were supposed to be with you."

Jeremie shook his head. "We were climbing down to avoid the monsters. They fell."

"Are they all right?"

"I don't know. We have to go look for them."

Ulrich helped Jeremie to his feet. "We can't. We need everyone for the final assault. We have to get to the control tower on this...thing."

"And then do what?"

"We were kind of hoping you could tell us."

Jeremie shrugged. "I'll contact Aelita, see if she knows anything about this."

Brandy lighted touched Ulrich on the shoulder. "Jim's back."

Ulrich turned away from Jeremie. "Report."

Jim shook his head. "There's no way around...those robots are everywhere. We're going to have to fight our way through."

Ulrich winced. "I don't like our odds."

"I recommend we hit them fast, start with bows and get into hand-to-hand as fast as possible. Those things aren't designed to fight up close—we might get a few of them to shoot each other, even."

Ulrich nodded slowly. "Tell the troops. We move out as soon as Jeremie can call up Aelita."

"I still don't understand, Jeremie. You say it's like a...a factory?"

Jeremie nodded at the laptop screen. "I'm pretty sure it was built just to create Xana's robots. There's no other way it could be so efficient."

Aelita nodded, distractedly. Jeremie tried to make eye contact, admittedly difficult in two dimensions. "Aelita. Everyone's fine. A couple burns and scratches, but everyone's alive. Don't do this to yourself."

"That's just one more thing I don't understand about you, Jeremie, all of you. What sense does this make? It's a miracle that none of you have died."

"Aelita—it's simple. I am never, ever going to abandon you."

Aelita blushed, and turned from the interface. "I'll start searching the archives."

Jeremie nodded. Brandy's shadow fell across him. "Brandy?"

"I just thought you should know...the scout team just returned. There's no sign of Odd and Sissi."

Jeremie nodded. Brandy stayed for a moment. "It's a big place, Jeremie. Just because we didn't find anything..."

"I know." She turned, and shuffled back to the gathered squadron.

"Jeremie."

"Aelita? Did you find something?"

"I'm afraid so. I found mention of of something like this in a secured data file. It was old, though, very old."

"So, what are we dealing with here?"

Aelita took a deep breath. "You're right, it was built just to make Xana's robots. I'm not sure who built it, but it's definitely as old as the Supercalculator itself. In the file, it only has one name...the Machine."

"Odd, you can't keep carrying me. This is ridiculous. I'm slowing you down."

Odd sighed, and turned against a support column, letting Sissi drop her way to the ground. "We just have to rest for a minute. Then we'll head to that big tower, everyone's probably making their way there. Are you still in pain?"

Sissi looked up at Odd as he scanned the horizon, silhouetted against the bright light streaming down from the surface. "It's getting better. I don't think I can stand on it." Odd nodded. "Look, Odd, about...I mean, when we..." he looked back down, his eyes meeting hers for a brief instant. "Forget it. It's not important."

Odd leaned down, scooping her back into his arms. "Yes, it is." He straightened his legs. "I just need some time to think, all right?"

Sissi sighed, and nodded. Odd started picking his way through the debris again, toward the stairs that would take them to the looming tower bordered by massive catwalks.

"It's called the Spire." Jeremie adjusted the screen so Aelita could see the assembled troops. "It controls the entire factory. There's a quartzite rod that controls all the interfaces—if we can destroy that, the whole place should shut down in a matter of seconds, along with all the monsters Xana's created so far."

Ulrich squinted backward, in the direction of the Spire. "What about rewind?"

Jeremie shook his head. "Shouldn't be a problem. There's a charged network running under the Machine that's very similar to the one around the Supercalculator. Whatever we do today should still be here when we go back in time."

Ulrich looked around at the clustered "troops." They looked scared, apprehensive, curious—mostly scared. But then, that was to be expected. "all right, everyone knows the battle plan. We can't wait any more, the monsters might get out of the base and start attacking people in town. We go now."

Dozens of weapons slung across shoulders, and the four remaining shields locked into place. Ulrich smiled. Jeremie had been wrong, he thought, as they all filed into marching order. They _were_ an army.

Yumi pulled herself up, trying to watch the action at the barricade. From the sound, she believed that the attack had stopped, that the monsters were content merely to keep them trapped. After all, she thought, they weren't going anywhere.

"Archers, watch your four!" A few of Tamiya's company turned around in time, taking down the crabs that had circled around. Ulrich cursed under his breath. The initial strikes had gone well enough—the monsters weren't prepared for melee, and they'd gotten away with few injuries. That all changed when they hit the catwalks. Now, the broad metal walkways were swarming with robotic horrors. The company had taken cover behind some scrap from the fallen airfield, but that was quickly eroding. What was worse was that the control crystal was so close—a mad, suicidal dash from the chunks of asphalt that protected them. Everyone knew it.

Ana knew it. She could feel it. Feel the fear and the frustration coming off everyone, and smell the burning ozone as the lasers pierced the air overhead. She closed her eyes. Unbidden, images of Odd flashed behind her eyelids. She smiled. "Jeremie." Jeremie crawled over from the south edge of the catwalk. He looked up expectantly. "Tell Odd I get it now."

Jeremie's eyes widened. She was crazy. He tried to tell her to wait, but she was already up. She was already running, red bolts of light whizzing around her. By the time he could react, all he could say was "Cover her!"

Ana couldn't feel anything as she ran. She dimly recognized that a laser might have grazed her shoulder, but it wasn't pain, just recognition. It was all so clear now. As she dove behind the computer consoles that ringed the Spire, she understood everything. The hero thing. The Sissi thing. _Everything._ She could hear Jeremie shouting orders, but nothing really registered until she had the crystal in hand.

Then, as she brought it down toward the edge of the console, she felt the hand on her wrist. A shriek escaped her throat as it jerked upward, lifting the crystal from her limp grasp. Suddenly, the other hand was around her throat.

Jeremie couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had never thought any form could look so familiar, and yet so alien. _The Avatar._ He didn't know how he knew—he just knew. It seemed _logical._ Its lips parted and a sharp hiss escaped them. As one, the monsters ceased their fire. All eyes were on the Avatar. "Let it be known," its voice rang across the Machine, echoing though it seemed barely to be whispering, "that this is the price for your disobedience."

Much later, when Odd could talk about it, he described that moment as if it had been planned out just for him, scripted and rehearsed just for his benefit. He knew it. Because just as he cleared the top of the stairs and the Spire came once again into view, Sissi in his arms, panting from the climb...

That was the moment Ana's head snapped toward him, a dull, fleeting sense of recognition flitting across her eyes. Recognition, then pain, or maybe curiousity...

Then nothing.

Odd hadn't moved yet. Sissi knew what was coming, though, and slid her way out of his arms, wrapping herself around the handrail. He wasn't crying—he wasn't doing anything. Slowly, almost deliberately, the Avatar's eyes swiveled to his. Sissi was sure that, if such a thing was possible, it was smiling. The twisted figure dropped the body—dropped Ana—almost mockingly. As if it was daring Odd to charge. Sissi closed her eyes. She didn't want to see it. But that didn't stop her from hearing the sound. It was Odd, she thought, but she couldn't bear to open her eyes and confirm it, the sound was so inhuman.

Jeremie couldn't move. He still didn't understand. He _knew_, the evidence was right in front of him, but it hadn't really registered yet. Odd's yell finally made it real. Jeremie's eyes shot up from Ana's ragged form to see the gangly Avatar collapse under Odd's weight and speed. Jeremie had read the file. This...thing was supposed to be strong—the perfect vessel for Xana. Odd was stronger.

His hands were already bleeding. Odd didn't feel it. All he felt was the shapely head crumpling under his fists. Sissi tried to stand, to pull herself closer to Odd. "Odd." He couldn't hear her. Didn't want to. "Odd, stop. It's not moving."

He knew that. Somehow, he'd thought it would help. The monsters hadn't started firing yet. It was like a dream. He saw Jeremie's eyes dart to the slick crystalline rod on the floor of the Spire. Where _she_ had dropped it. It was the first thing he actually felt. It was cold. How fitting, he thought. It was also fragile. it cracked easily against the rail beside the consoles.

"Aelita...are you reading any activity?" Jeremie glanced between the laptop and the Spire.

"I...no...everything's just...stopped."

Jeremie nodded.

She was cold. Her eyes were empty now, gray somehow. Like she was somewhere else. Not gone...just somewhere else.

Sissi pulled herself along the railing. "Odd." He didn't move. "Odd, there's nothing you could have done. Please don't punish yourself. It was her ch-"

"**Shut up!**" Odd was too fast. By the time she'd realized what was happening, she was down on the grating, looking up at him. He was finally crying. "**SHUT UP!** Are you happy now, huh? Is everything so much simpler now?"

"Odd...I..."

"**You killed her! YOU KILLED HER!**"

Sissi winced—she thought he was going to hit her. But he didn't have the strength. He collapsed to his knees beside her. "_I_ killed her."

"No, Odd, you have to-"

"I let her go, I let her go, I let her go..." The words faded until all Sissi could hear was sobbing. The rest were moving in, slowly, trying to understand. They couldn't, Sissi thought. Only the two of them could ever _really_ understand.

Jeremie averted his eyes. He couldn't bear to look at any of it. He reopened the laptop. "Aelita? Are you still there?"

"I'm...Jeremie, what's wrong?" He shook his head. "Jeremie, why are you...crying?"

"I'll explain tomorrow, all right?" He looked out over the wasted landscape beneath the airfield. It was all so quiet now. The only sound was the crying. It was impossible to find any one person's breath in the multitude. "Aelita...return to the past."

She'd died in the night. An anurism, the doctor said. Very sudden. It was unlikely she'd felt any pain.

Everyone was at the funeral. Almost. As the first earth fell into the grave, Ulrich wrapped his arms around Yumi. Both were trying not to cry again.

After the services, Sissi and Jeremie went back to their room. Jeremie had to find some way to tell Aelita. "Sissi..."

"Jeremie?"

"Have you seen Odd lately? At the service, I mean? At all?" She shook her head. "I guess he needs to be alone." She nodded and sat down on her bed.

Something under the sheet played against her side. Sissi started—Jeremie was already at the computer. Gingerly, she slid the note out of its hiding place. Her name was written in slow, deliberate script across the front. Sissi gently unfolded the single sheet of paper.

_Sissi,_

_Just need some time to think._

_Odd._


End file.
